Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 707 Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) by 2,618.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 734 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in AstraZeneca were worth $48,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in AstraZeneca by 1.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,117,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,801,080,000 after purchasing an additional 258,477 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AstraZeneca by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,122,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,649,000 after buying an additional 1,522,715 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in AstraZeneca by 5.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,480,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,509,000 after buying an additional 524,175 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in AstraZeneca by 16.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,417,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,565,000 after buying an additional 488,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in AstraZeneca by 5.8% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,403,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,458,000 after acquiring an additional 186,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

AstraZeneca Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZN opened at $66.84 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.59 and a 200-day moving average of $75.22. The stock has a market cap of $207.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.93. AstraZeneca PLC has a fifty-two week low of $60.47 and a fifty-two week high of $87.68.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. AstraZeneca had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 12.68%. The firm had revenue of $13.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AstraZeneca PLC will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AstraZeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded AstraZeneca from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

AstraZeneca Company Profile

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology.